Green Scholarship Established by NAHB's National Housing Endowment

Washington, May 11 — A new National Housing Endowment scholarship will help pay for students to attend the National Association of Home Builders National Green Building Conference. The scholarship was announced at a dinner honoring winners of the NAHB National Green Building Awards.

Founding contributor Tommy Ford Construction endowed the scholarship in honor of Texas entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens, who gave the keynote speech at the awards dinner in Dallas on May 8.

"The construction management students and the young men and women just getting started in this business need the information, the education and the networking that the NAHB National Green Building Conference provides," said Conference Working Group Chair and Mount Pleasant, Mich., builder Joanne Theunissen at the awards dinner.

The new scholarship fund will provide support to students in a two-year or four-year design and construction education and training program. The National Housing Endowment will manage the fund.

The NAHB Green Building Subcommittee will determine eligibility requirements and recommend recipients for the scholarship.

"Tommy Ford Construction is a green building leader in the Dallas area, and with this contribution, the company is establishing itself as a green building benefactor as well," said Subcommittee Chair Eric Borsting.

"This is a wonderful gift from Tommy Ford Construction. The education, training and other events at the NAHB National Green Building Conference represent a valuable experience for these students," Borsting said.

"With the help of generous contributions like this, the National Housing Endowment continues to invest in the future of the home building industry by recognizing the demand for green building education. Tommy Ford Construction's contribution to the National Housing Endowment will make a difference in students' careers and lives by giving them access to the most advanced green building technologies found at the NAHB Green Building Conference," said Endowment Board of Trustees Chair F. Gary Garczynski. 

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About the National Housing Endowment: The National Housing Endowment, established in 1987 by the National Association of Home Builders, will help the industry develop more effective approaches to home building, enhance the ways we educate and train future generations of leaders in residential construction and increase the body of knowledge on housing issues. We will do so by supporting innovate and effective programs that further education, training and research. For more information about the National Housing Endowment, please visit the National Housing Endowment Web site at www.nationalhousingendowment.org.

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About NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing more than 200,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. Known as "the voice of the housing industry," NAHB is affiliated with more than 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB's builder members will construct about 80 percent of the new housing units projected for 2009.